9 Bargain-Bin Gadgets for the Struggling 99 Percent

Yesterday was tough. Like many Americans, you may have waited until the last minute to file your 2011 taxes -- only to be surprised by paperwork that says you owe the government an arm, a leg, and an expensive assortment of internal organs.

But just because you’re broke doesn’t mean you can’t assemble a comprehensive arsenal of consumer electronics. While the rich and fabulous enjoy gadgets for the elite 1 percent, the teeming, unwashed masses can explore hardware that occupies the lowest echelons of quality, specs and features.

And make no mistake: By no means are we recommending all of the gear in this round-up. No, this is more of a research study delving into the depths of product manufacturing -- a survey of the extreme low-end gadgets that are aimed at the world's most thrifty (or undiscriminating) shoppers.

MP3 Player: Eclipse CL2BLK MP3 Player -- $11

The Eclipse looks suspiciously like an iPod shuffle. It has a clip that you can attach to your clothing or backpack, and its buttons are nearly identical to those on Apple’s compact music player. Unlike the iPod shuffle, however, this alarmingly inexpensive music player won’t connect to iTunes. But considering how buggy iTunes has been the past few years, this isn’t necessarily a problem.

Via drag-and-drop file management, the Eclipse supports MP3 and WMA audio tracks. MP3 is the default file type for Amazon and Google Play, but the lack of M4A file support is a bummer. Still, considering the $11 entry fee, it’s hard to complain. The player works with Windows and OS X, so it’s already better than a Zune.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired

Phone: AT&T U2800A GoPhone Prepaid -- $20

You dropped your smartphone on concrete, and you don’t have the money to replace it. Yet you still need to keep in touch with your friends and, to a lesser extent, your pesky extended family. Well, for a mere $20, you can actually purchase a Huawei-manufactured phone that, almost miraculously, performs traditional talk-time duties and even supports 3G. Just don’t expect to be posting to Instagram.

The AT&T U2800A GoPhone is a bare-bones mobile phone of the lowest ambition levels. For $20 contract-free, you should be happy that its puny 1.8-inch screen displays in color. In addition to texting and call support, the phone includes a WAP web browser and various pre-installed apps. The mobile web access is hit or miss depending on the sites you visit (nothing renders in full HTML, and video isn’t supported), and the apps are best left ignored.

Users can top-off the phone’s minutes with pre-paid cards or via the phone itself. To help you stretch your dollar, AT&T offers three subscription services.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired

HDTV: Viore 24-inch LED-LCD -- $160

Big-screen HD televisions are cost-prohibitive for anyone who buys his dinner staples in five-pound burlap sacks. But for $160, even die-hard penny pinchers can enjoy watching video content at 1080p. This Viore model may be only 24 inches, but hey, just scoot your milk crate closer to the screen, sit a spell, and enjoy the show.

Boasting an LED backlight -- ooh, fancy! -- the LE24VF20 is ready for your low-rent living room. Or, if you don’t want to toss the 42-inch CRT you purchased as a richer man during the boom times of the '90s, you can deploy the Viore as a second TV in your den, garage, or tree house. This HDTV features single HDMI, Composite, and VGA inputs -- and even comes with a remote control!

Photo: Viore

Desktop PC: Raspberry Pi -- $35

It’s not designed to wow your friends (unless they’re hardcore geeks). It won’t play Quake at 100 frames per second. And it definitely won’t run Office or iTunes. But it will fit in your pocket, and cost less than dinner out with your significant other.

The $35 Raspberry Pi is a Linux-based system that ships with the bare minimum specs to qualify a device as an actual computer. This credit-card sized BYOKDPC (bring your own keyboard and display PC) was created to put low-cost computers in the hands of budding software developers.

Currently, the Pi doesn’t even ship with a case -- all you get is a bare circuit board. But this PCB does come with built-in HDMI, Composite Video, Ethernet and USB ports, and even includes an SD card slot. Powered by an 700MHz ARM chip and 256MB of RAM, it’s all the computer you need to learn Python, or get online and update Facebook.

Photo: Raspberry Pi Foundation

Digital Camera: Sakar 94045 Spiderman Digital Camera Keychain -- $10

Most smartphones have a built-in camera that’s more than adequate for our casual photography needs. However, if you busted your smartphone (see our AT&T U2800A entry), and don’t have the cash for a device that actually delivers serviceable images, an inexpensive keychain digital camera could be the ticket.

Maybe. Possibly. OK, unlikely. But did we mention the camera has a picture of Spider-Man on it?

The Sakar 94045 will not only store 70 crap-quality, 352x288 images on its 1MB of memory, it can also be used as a webcam. Powered by a single AAA battery, the superhero-themed camera has a slide-up viewfinder that can only be described as horribly useless. Also, the camera’s computer interface only supports Windows XP and 2000. So don’t even think about plugging it into a Mac -- it will just sit there running down the battery.

So is it a camera, or a throwaway trinket that you buy for your melting-down 5-year-old who’s fixated on the concept of owning a camera? It’s neither -- because not even a crying 5-year-old would be impressed by this exercise in uselessness.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired

Watch: LED Unisex Jelly Watch -- $4

When we began looking for the world’s cheapest watch, we assumed we’d find a few models costing $1 or $2. After all, if anything screams cheap, commodity, sweatshop hardware, it’s a simple timepiece bearing technology that first hit market in the 1970s.

And so it was with shock and gall that we discovered the cheapest watch on Amazon -- America’s font of all things purchasable -- costs a whopping $4. The upshot? It looks like even inexpensive crap isn’t immune to rising labor costs in China.

The Jelly Watch, while not actually made of jelly, has a band made of a rubber-like material. Bright LEDs display the time when a side button is depressed. But how’s this for clever: When the watch is in “standby mode,” its face can be used as a fully functional mirror. Use it to fix your make up, check to see who’s following you, or shine reflected light in the eyes of enemies.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired

Gaming Console: Retro Duo NES/SNES Game System -- $40

When you’re barely scraping by, paying $60 for a single videogame isn’t just offensive, it’s out of the question. But you do have affordable options. For the price of whatever war-related game is launching at midnight, you can purchase two of history’s greatest hardware gaming platforms, all in a single box.

The Retro Duo NES/SNES console will play all of those old SNES and NES cartridge games you have hiding in the closet, including some of the Japanese imports you paid way too much for in the 1980s. The console ships with two controllers for head-to-head action, and connects to your TV via S-video or composite cables. If you don’t have any games, a quick search of eBay and Craigslist should get you started.

Photo: Innex

Tablet: DataWind UbiSlate 7+ -- $99

Forget about the Amazon Kindle and the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. Sure, their $200 and $250 respective price tags look impressively low, but when you’re trying to decide between Top Ramen and baked beans for dinner, $200 might as well be a million dollars. Enter the UbiSlate 7+, the tablet for people with less than $100 in their bank accounts.

The 7-inch UbiSlate 7+ is powered by an 800MHz ARM processor and 256MB of RAM, and runs Android 2.3. Unlike almost every other tablet on the market, the UbiSlate has a full-size USB port -- no proprietary power and data cables here. The tablet’s 7-inch screen boasts an 800x480 resolution. Internal storage clocks in a 2GB, and can be expanded via a Micro-SD port.

In India, you can pick up an UbiSlate 7+ right now for $35. The U.S. version, which is destined to hit shores this December, will have a multitouch-capacitive screen, and include one year of free internet service for its higher $99 price. That’s right: free internet access for one year. But we don’t have any details on which carrier will be handling data.

The low-cost tablet was created by a British company called DataWind to help Indian students afford tablets for school. If you’re interested in scoring this super-low-end iPad-non-killer, you can join a mailing list on the company’s website to receive availability updates.

Photo: Datawind

Knives: Kiwi Knives Chef’s Knife -- $18

If you don’t have any money, you can’t splurge on fancy restaurants. Ipso facto: You’ll be cooking at home more often, making a strong argument for ditching those permanently dull second-hand knives you bought at the Salvation Army. But what are your best options? We have a serious recommendation here. For high-quality yet inexpensive knives, consider cutlery made by Kiwi.

Manufactured in Thailand, Kiwi knives will hold an edge just as well as cutlery you might buy at Williams-Sonoma for 10 times the price. They’re also well-weighted and durable. They may not have the pedigree of Global or Wusthof, but you’ll be paying for pure quality, not the expensive product marketing that props up the rock-star knife brands.

While we were able to find a Kiwi chef’s knife
for $18 on Amazon.com, the real deals can be found in local restaurant supply stores in the Chinatowns of major cities. Just be sure to keep an eye out for knock-offs. Regardless, if you step up to the counter with a Kiwi in hand, the store clerk may ask you to name the restaurant where you work -- these knives are just that good.